Diane's Journey to Health

This is a post about my personal health journey. I'm not just talking about losing weight and lowering cholesterol, although they are a part of it. It's about dealing with my increasing episodes of heart palpitations.

First, although most palpitations are harmless, if you are experiencing undiagnosed heart palpitations, it's best that you have it checked out by a doctor.

I've had sporadic heart palpitations for most of my life and 25 plus years ago I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse (MVP). Nothing to worry about, they said. When the palpitations increased recently, I decided it was time to look again.

A stress echo test revealed that I actually don't have MVP, but just a small leak in a heart valve. Apparently, the test for measuring MVP has changed over the years and many were diagnosed with MVP that didn't have it.

The stress echo test revealed that my heart valves are all good, but why the palps? My cardiologist's first inclination was to medicate and do more tests because one of the causes can be plaques or blockages in your heart.

My Cardiologist

My cardiologist did not ask any questions about changes to my diet or what was happening in my life.

Although I wore a heart monitor for a month, I was not willing to do a nuclear stress test because of radiation exposure.

Please note that the decision to forgo a nuclear stress test was purely a personal decision. This test does offer a relatively non-invasive way to measure blood flow to your heart muscle both at rest and during stress.

The heart monitor I wore revealed some non-dangerous palpitations and a few atrial fibrillations.

So off I went to do some research. I discovered that there's another simple ultrasound test that can reveal a lot about your heart. Why not do something less invasive first, I reasoned. It is actually recommended by Dr. Fuhrman.

It's a scan of your carotid arteries in your neck and is about 95% correlated with what's happening in your heart. After the scan, I found out that, happily, it did not reveal any blockages or plaque. Although not definitive, it's a good indicator.

But again, why all of the palps? I also asked Dr. Fuhrman what he would recommend (through my membership on his website) and he said to lose some weight, stay strict on his diet, take 81 mg of aspirin and see how I do. Luckily, a whole good plant-based diet can reverse heart disease.

My Research

During my research, I discovered there are all kinds of causes for heart palpitations - valve problems, acid reflux, H. pylori bacteria (can cause ulcers), a hiatal hernia, an allergic histamine response, thyroid problems, hypoglycemia, or anxiety in addition to heart disease. Interestingly, one of the reasons can be a vitamin B-12 deficiency.

A light went off when I realized that I had cut out all dairy, meat, and wheat from my diet and the only sources of vitamin B outside of a supplement (or nutritional yeast.) Another important amino acid for your heart is taurine which is from, you guessed it, meat and seafood.

Although I did occasionally take a B-12 supplement, I upped my intake of vitamin B complex and of taurine daily. My blood work did not show any magnesium, calcium, or potassium deficiencies, but I also upped my intake of those.

Unfortunately, all of this uncertainty caused me to have anxiety, something that I've dealt with on and off most of my life and can tend to make heart palpitations worse.

Interestingly, Vitamin B and taurine deficiencies can increase anxiety and depression, as well. The good news, for me, is that my heart palpitations have reduced greatly and so has the anxiety. I've discovered many ways to reduce anxiety from my research.

One of the easiest is deep breathing and slow exhalation. Another interesting way is to increase heart coherence.

Check out heartmath.org. Their computer program for increasing heart coherence really works, at least for me. And, I saw a hypnotherapist. (healthhabitshypnosis.com) She is great and I was finally able to get a handle on the anxiety that has plagued me for many years.

More good news, too. I've lost 6 pounds and my total cholesterol went down 39 points on my last test. Another testament to the benefits of eating a plant-based diet.

I'm still on the journey

I'm not sure that Vitamin B and taurine are the answers. I walk vigorously for 30 minutes a day and eat well. In the meantime, I've found many resources to help me.

Does your personal health journey include dealing with a health issue? Please share it with us in the comments below so we can benefit from any insights you've gained.

You can learn more about me and my background in nutrition on these links:

• My Story page.
• 10 Things About Me page

Take heart in knowing that you're being proactive when eating a plant-based diet. It can actually help in many situations like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or high cholesterol among other things.

And, remember, if you have given up meat, dairy, and/or grains, don't forget to take a Vitamin B-12 supplement (or nutritional yeast) since it's not available in plants.